NORMAN, Okla. -- A week ago, Oklahoma offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley struggled to bring much balance to the offense with a limited Samaje Perine in the lineup.

Saturday night in the Sooners' home opener against Louisiana-Monroe, there wasn't much of any kind of struggled for Oklahoma.

The No. 14 Sooners rolled to a 59-17 blowout of the Warhawks in front of 87,037 at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

Perine and Joe Mixon, Oklahoma's other powerful running back, combined for 213 yards of total offense with Mixon running for 117 yards and Perine rushing for 58 yards and two touchdowns and hauling in two catches for 38 yards.

"We're always going to try to get him involved," Sooners offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley said of Mixon. "He's playing the best ball of his life right now.

"He's playing much better than he did a year ago."

The game also gave Sooners quarterback Baker Mayfield a chance to find his rhythm again after he admittedly tried to force things too much in the loss to Houston a week before.

Mayfield threw for 244 yards and three touchdowns and didn't have to carry the ball at all on the ground.

None of Oklahoma's three offensive stars played in the second half as the Sooners (1-1) led 42-0 at the break.

The Sooners scored touchdowns on each of their first four drives, jumping ahead 28-0 just one play into the second quarter on Jarvis Baxter's 40-yard touchdown run on a reverse.

Mayfield found Mark Andrews for a 39-yard touchdown pass just six plays into the game and then hit Dimitri Flowers for another on the next drive.

The Warhawks (1-1) moved the ball on their first drive of the game and first-year coach Matt Viator gambled on the first drive and went for it on fourth-and-2 from Oklahoma's 36.

Louisiana-Monroe quarterback Garrett Smith missed the mark on his fourth-down pass, though, giving the ball back to the Sooners.

ULM punted on each of its next six drives and Oklahoma continually extended the lead throughout the rest of the half.

Now Oklahoma turns its attentions toward Ohio State, which visits the Sooners next week.

"It's a little bit unknown," Sooners coach Bob Stoops said of where his team stood headed into the game against Ohio State. "We made far too many mistakes and didn't play well enough a week ago. This time we didn't. But we recognize the quality of opponent."

But cornerback Jordan Thomas said the defense, which struggled against Houston in the season opener, showed noticeable improvement despite the opponent.

"You've just got to take it for what it's worth," Thomas said. "If you execute on all cylinders, that's a huge improvement."

Historically, Stoops has not gone with his backup quarterback until the fourth quarter even in blowout games.

But as Oklahoma came out for warmups, Mayfield wore a visor and his helmet was nowhere to be found.

Instead, freshman Austin Kendall -- the only other eligible scholarship quarterback on the Sooners' roster -- played the entire second half.

"We wanted to get him reps," Riley said. "He's our second quarterback. He's demonstrated in practice that he deserved the chance.

"I don't know that we had a specific number, I think it's more a feel of when we should get him in."

The Warhawks took advantage of the Sooners' lineup turnover in the second half, though, scoring long touchdowns on each of their first two drives after halftime.

But that wasn't anywhere near enough to dig the Warhawks out of the hole they were in after two quarters.

ULM quarterback Garrett Smith threw for 251 yards and two touchdowns -- all but 83 of those yards in the second half.

Warhawks receiver R.J. Turner had seven catches for 135 yards and a touchdown.

Oklahoma linebacker Jordan Evans, who stayed in the game considerably later than the rest of the Sooners' starters due to injuries to his backups, finished with a game-high 10 tackles.

NOTES: Dru Samia started the RG for the Sooners after starting at RT in the opener against Houston. Bobby Evans made his first career start, at RT. ... ULM RB Tyler Cain, who is listed as the starter for the Warhawks despite not being cleared by the NCAA, did not make the trip to Norman. ... Oklahoma DEs Matt Dimon and Austin Roberts, listed at one and two on the depth chart, were both suspended for the game for unspecified violations of team rules. ... Three Sooners' defensive starters -- DE D.J. Ward, OLB Kapri Doucet and CB Parrish Cobb -- made their first career starts. ... Oklahoma hosts Ohio State next Saturday. ... ULM opens Sun Belt play at Georgia Southern.